For the second year in a row, we can’t attend the famed Turin conference in-person, but we’ll be glued to our screens, wearing dark turtlenecks and dreaming of agnolotti and chocolate pudding thicker than Bay Area fog, for a week of diverse, compelling, and inspiring presentations on the latest and greatest from the world of computer generated visuals.
Back this year with both an in-person and virtual conference program filled to the brim with more than 250 speakers and 160 panels, workshops, masterclasses and inspiring keynote speeches, VIEW Conference 2021 is bigger, bolder, and more inclusive than ever. Were you expecting anything less from tireless – and fearless - conference director Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez?
This year, running October 17 – 22 in Torino, Italy, VIEW 2021 is once again free to attend online via a simple registration, with inexpensive options for both safely managed onsite as well as continued VOD access to the entire program.
Each year, the VIEW Conference celebrates the incredibly diverse, most outstanding creative efforts from the world’s top visual artists, filmmakers, game developers, and pixel magicians. And as we round the corner on 2021, almost a full two years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, these achievements are all the more compelling, coming almost exclusively from the hands of artists working at home; from personal short films to the largest studio projects, the steady stream of great work across streaming and broadcast TV, film, games, immersive, and special venues, produced using new, innovative technology from Autodesk, Adobe, Blender, Foundry, NVIDIA, SideFX, and Unreal Engine; and cloud-based pipelines integrating the latest virtual production, high-performance rendering, and distributed workforce toolsets, exemplifies the passion and drive that has fueled creative industries for decades.
Dr. Gutierrez shared with AWN, “Once again, the response from our extended VIEW family has been overwhelming as we faced the realities of the ongoing pandemic while putting together our program. Each year, we hope to put on a conference that brings the same level of excitement and value as previous years. This year, we’ve put together an incredible event, filled with wonderfully talented artists from across the globe. I’m incredibly proud of our program and the outpouring of support we’ve received.”
We’ll get to some of those program highlights in a moment. But first, it’s important to note the significance, and importance, of the sheer immensity of knowledge sharing provided by the VIEW Conference platform. It’s worth repeating that animation and VFX-related crafts are hugely mentor-based, as hands-on, practical, and experiential learning are hugely important throughout every artist’s career. Watching and listening to top professionals share their insights and experience, walking through their productions, explaining creative and technical decision-making… it’s priceless. VIEW’s ultimate value, and foundational strength, is facilitating such a voluminous and richly programmed educational and informational transfer, expertly themed, curated, and presented. And, making it available free of charge during the conference, and for a nominal fee, for continued on-demand access.
Yes, everyone is a bit burnt out by almost two years of Zoom meetings and virtual events. But VIEW is unique; intimate though vast, expansive yet inviting, the conference is put together solely focused on the most topical and compelling projects, pipelines, technology, and creative paradigms employed by artists at both the biggest studios and going solo in their own basements. All with an eye towards ease and accessibility for everyone to access, experience, and enjoy.
A diverse program including Badass Women Producers and Badass Asian-American Directors panels, sessions like “The Future of VFX” as well as numerous talks on topics like virtual production, real-time animation, and the most recent innovations in digital humans and next-gen digital doubles. There are even life drawing and writing masterclasses by Wolfwalkers director Tomm Moore, The Willoughbys director Kris Pearn, and The Mitchells vs. The Machines director Mike Rianda.
The list of luminaries participating through keynotes, film and TV project presentations, and panel discussions is embarrassingly deep: Sir Roger Deakins, Tom McGrath, Jorge Gutierrez, Tomm Moore, Ronnie Del Carmen, Elizabeth Ito, Tim Miller, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Rob Legato, Paul Franklin, Kendal Cronkhite, Celine Desrumaux, Roger Guyett, Erick Oh, Jinko Gotoh, Joe Mateo, Peter Ramey, Shannon Tindle... it just feels like bragging to continue.
The programming treats from the Disney studio family alone are reason enough to attend. In addition to ILM’s chief creative officer Rob Bredow’s presentation on the company’s innovative StageCraft technology (ask him about the in-camera Millennium Falcon cockpit shots on Solo), you’ll also find talks on recent hit films like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Disney’s Jungle Cruise, Raya and the Last Dragon, Luca, What If…? The Mandalorian, and WandaVision.
And let’s not forget, an all-star panel discussion on the next big thing - the Metaverse - featuring CG industry pioneers Alvy Ray Smith, Mark Sylvester, Jeff Kleiser, Carl Rosenthal, Don Greenberg, and Richard Kerris.
Check your schedule, stock up on espresso beans and biscotti (or Kind Bars) and set aside some quality time to get registered and join the ever-growing VIEW family.
The international VIEW Conference, Italy’s premiere event for Computer Graphics, Interactive & Immersive Media, Animation, Visual Effects, Games, Real-time Rendering, Virtual Production, AI, VR, AR, and Mixed Reality, brings top professionals from those fields to the beautiful baroque city of Torino, Italy for a week of talks, presentations, and workshops.
VIEW 2021 takes place from October 17 to 22 in Torino’s state-of-the-art OGR venue and virtually. VIEW Conference 2021 is made possible thanks to the support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione CRT, Regione Piemonte, Città di Torino and the OGR.
Free registration is now open. Additional information is available on the event website.
See you there!
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
